Driscoll’s path had sharp turns

Driscoll doesn’t recall who the boy was or how he played, and can’t remember what his scores were, either. But he came home from that trip certain of one thing. “I knew I could compete with them, it wasn’t like I got dusted,’’ Driscoll said. “That gave me confidence.’’

Confidence has rarely been an issue with Driscoll, who was born in Boston and raised in Brookline. And when he puts his tee in the ground this morning, half a world away in Turnberry, Scotland, he’ll be appearing for the first time in the British Open, golf’s oldest major championship. That it took Driscoll nearly eight years to get there after becoming a professional might be a surprise to those who know that his golf portfolio is overflowing with titles and trophies. Golf’s a hard game, though, filled with just as many valleys as peaks. Driscoll is hungry for success and the wins that have narrowly eluded him. But so far, above all, he’s happy with the journey.

“I’d like to be in contention a little more often, but overall I’m pleased with the way things are going,’’ Driscoll said a few weeks back at the Travelers Championship, near Hartford. “At this point I’m playing better and things are going in the right direction.’’

Based on his junior and amateur career, the direction most expected for Driscoll would have been straight to the top. The youngest of seven children in a large, close, athletic family, Driscoll played a variety of sports growing up, narrowing his extracurricular activities to golf and hockey by the time he entered Brookline High.

“My biggest memory of James was seeing him up there, it didn’t matter what the weather was, he was always up there hitting balls, hitting bunker shots, playing with the better players,’’ said Andy Froude, the longtime former golf professional at Charles River Country Club in Newton. “He had a ton of game, and his game traveled really well.’’

About that time, his prowess on the course was beginning to take shape. It might take less time to list the junior and amateur events that Driscoll didn’t win instead of the ones that he did, but most impressive was becoming club champion at Charles River at the age of 15, winning the North and South Amateur at Pinehurst, and blitzing the field at the New England Amateur in 1995, winning by 13 shots as a 17-year-old. Driscoll won the Massachusetts Junior Amateur once, the Massachusetts Amateur twice, the Western Junior Amateur in Hot Springs, Va., and lost in the final of the 1995 US Junior Amateur in Fargo, N.D.

“I remember the first time I saw him, he was carrying a skinny little bag and he was wearing a Beastie Boys hat,’’ said Mike Moraghan, who recruited Driscoll to the University of Virginia. “But he had this intense look about him that I really liked. He was one of the top players, if not the top player, in the country coming out of high school, in my mind.’’

He didn’t disappoint when he joined the Cavaliers, either, becoming a three-time All-American and matching the school record with 23 top-10 finishes.

Continuing a collision course with professional golf, Driscoll’s victory in the North and South Amateur at Pinehurst, but his life changed the following summer, when he advanced to the final of the 2000 US Amateur at Baltusrol, losing on the 39th hole to Jeff Quinney. Suddenly he was on the fast track, considered among the elite in American amateur golf, with a spot in the 2001 Masters and a great chance to play in the 2001 Walker Cup.

“It was a week that I’ll never forget, even though I didn’t win,’’ Driscoll said. “You know, everything happens for a reason, and I would have loved to win it, to be the national champ, that would have been amazing. But it was still a great experience. I think it put me on the map. It got me a lot of exemptions into [PGA] Tour events that next year, when I needed it.’’

Putting to good use a work ethic that was honed at Charles River, Driscoll spent one more year as an amateur, shooting a first-round 68 at the 2001 Masters (he ultimately missed the cut by a stroke), and representing the United States in the Walker Cup that year. When that was over, without much left to accomplish on the amateur level, he was ready to play for pay.

Success as a professional can be measured lots of ways, and this is where it can get subjective. Victories? There has been one of note, at the 2004 Virginia Beach Open on the Nationwide Tour. That helped Driscoll join the PGA Tour in 2005. Close calls? Two. Driscoll lost in a playoff at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans as a Tour rookie, and also lost in a playoff earlier this year at the Valero Texas Open, when he shot a final-round 62 to catch Zach Johnson before succumbing. “High point of my career, for sure,’’ he said. “That was almost a flawless round of golf, on a Sunday, coming down the stretch. That’s all a player wants to do, is play well when it matters.’’

Money? Definitely. This week will be his 110th start on the PGA Tour in a career that has seen Driscoll earn $2.6 million. Consistency? Well, yes and no. He’s consistently made a very nice living as a professional golfer, no small feat considering the sheer number of talented players who believe they’re good enough to be on the PGA Tour. But there was one hiccup - Driscoll’s description - in 2007, when he toiled on the Nationwide Tour after losing his PGA Tour card. He fought a stretch of poor play and, for the first time, a prolonged lack of confidence.

“I never thought I’d lose my confidence, because I never had before really,’’ Driscoll said. “I hit some shots I had never seen before and just got rattled, and I was rattled for most of the year. It took me a while to get out of that.’’

But he climbed out, returning to the PGA Tour in 2008 and keeping conditional status this year, which he has taken advantage of. From the playoff loss at Texas to this week, his first trip to the British Open (courtesy of a 36-hole qualifier in Texas), where creativity and the ability to deal with ever-changing conditions are keys to successful links golf.

“I never thought it would be a cakewalk, but I think I probably thought that I’d have done better at age 31,’’ Driscoll said. “Looking back, it gives me better perspective on how difficult it is. I’m not pleased with how I’ve done, but I appreciate how hard it is. I thought when I got here I was mature and ready to go, but I think there’s a different level of golf maturity. You start to know your game a little bit better, and can deal with the ups and downs of the year, Tour life. I hope I’m starting to turn that corner.

“I’m just excited for the opportunity to play in one of the four biggest events of the year. It’s an opportunity to play well at the highest level, so I’m looking forward to it.’’

Moraghan, for one, wouldn’t be surprised if Driscoll gets plenty of TV time this week.

“Even though he hasn’t won a PGA Tour event yet, I believe he’s capable of winning a major,’’ Moraghan said. “I believe he has that kind of game, that kind of mind, that kind of skill. There’s no tournament that James can’t win. It goes back to his junior days in Massachusetts, but it’s clear. James is a winner.’’

Michael Whitmer can be reached at mwhitmer@globe.com